Song of the Soul Reaper
by Lt. Cmdr. Radner
Summary: There are more then Soul Reapers and Quincies that hunt Hollows. They are the unseen guardians, they are there and gone like the sound of a drum, they are as mysterious as the soulful tones of the trumpet, and as powerful as the wailing guitar.
1. Chapter 1

**Song of the Soul Reaper**

**Summary**: (Kamen Rider Hibiki/Bleach) There are more then Soul Reapers and Quincies that hunt Hollows. They are the unseen guardians, they are there and gone like the sound of a drum. They are as mysterious as the soulful tones of the trumpet, and as powerful as the wailing guitar. They are as fierce as the darkness that they hunt and as human as those they fight for. To us they are heroes, to them they are Oni.

**a/n**: Yes I know another new story but having recently gotten into Bleach I was inspired to write once I finished catching up on the anime eps and after various false starts I began to wonder how an Oni of Pure Sound would deal with a Hollow. Hence the story you are now reading. I hope you enjoy it and please Review. And many thanks to **Kamen Rider Chrome **for beta reading, if you enjoy this please check out some of his works. They are great reads.

And now submitted for your approval...

Ch. 1: The Opening Beat

The little girl Plus ran for her life even though she was already dead. Her chain clanging loudly as ran from her pursuer. _"Yes little soul, run. Run until you can run no longer, and when you collapse I will consume you entirely!"_ called the monstrous shadow that had been trailing her. Using the little strength she still had she turned into the park she had played in when she still lived and tried to hide amongst the jungle gyms, and seesaws, and swing sets.

'_Please, don't let him find me. Please don't let him find me,'_ she prayed silently as tears began to stream down her cheeks. "Please Mama, help me" she pleaded as she curled up into a ball trying to be as inconspicuous as possible.

"_Nothing left already little one, such a shame. I had hoped you would give me more sport. Such a shame,"_ said the monstrous voice cruelly as it stepped into view. It skin was black and hairy and shaped like an ape's with a gapping hole in it's chest where its heart should be and on it's head a white skull like mask that grinned mockingly. _"Such a small morsel, but a fitting start to an evening," _it said as it loomed hungrily over the small girl, ready to swallow her whole.

"Sorry but your dinner plans are canceled," called a defiant voice from the other side of the park making the beast look up.

"_WHO DARES?!" _it cried as a dark haired man in his mid to late teens stepped into the light of a street lamp with a smirk on his face and his eyes alight with confidence. He was dress in t a brown leather bomber jacked and jeans with metal plated fingerless gloves on his hands.

"Like I said Hollow, your dinner plans are canceled. So turn around and walk away or risk your life," said the stranger firmly.

"_You talk very big human, just who do you think you are?"_ said the Hollow with a laugh as it turned to face him properly. If anything he would provide a better meal then the girl, best to save her for desert.

"Me, I'm nobody," he said with a shrug as he reached to his belt and unclip a folded device. "Just a wandering minstrel passing through," he continued as he flicked his wrist unfolding the item revealing it to be an ornate tuning fork with a gold ogre head on it. "But you can call me, Oni," with that he rapped the fork on the metal plate of his glove letting out a single clear note as it shined with energy in the dark night. He then raised it to his forehead letting the energies reveal the small Oni crest on his forehead. In an instant he was enveloped in purple flames.

In an instant the flames died revealing a man in purple armor with silver crisscross reinforcements on his chest. His arms and legs adorned with gold bracers and heavy boots. About his waste a belt with what looks like a taiko decorated with three tome marks that appeared to look like circling fire balls on the buckle and on right was the tuning fork in its folded position and on the left was a loop of metal looking discs shaped like CDs. His face was masked by a faceless helmet with red markings like a kabuki actor would wear and silver horns with the Oni crest resting between the two. **"Now then, let's Rock n' Roll."**

With that the Oni rushed the Hollow and sent him flying with a powerful right hook putting himself between it and its prey. _"You're going to pay for that you bastard!" _it yelled as it got back on its feet.

"**Sorry I don't know that song,"** the Oni taunted as it reached behind himself and pulled out a pair of Taiko drumsticks both adorned with red gem like Oni heads, one grinning merrily and the other snarling. **"But if you hum a few bars, I bet I can fake it," **he then gave the two a quick twirl causing the heads to ignite with purple flames and fired off a volley of fireballs that sent the Hollow crashing into a high wall at the other end of the park.

Not wasting the chance, the Oni rushed forward and unclipped the Taiko style buckle, the Ongekikou Kaentsuzumi, and plated it on the chesh of the Hollow just below its hole. It quickly expanded into a large red trimmed Taiko. **"Ongeki Da: Ikki Kasei no kata!"** it cried charging his Rekka drumsticks and began to pound the Taiko forcefully with the two sending waves of sound and energy into the Hollow causing it to cry in pain and with the Tenth hit it succumbed it the Oni's power as it exploded in a blast of blue sparks. In its wake though flew out a black raven with gold tipped wings that vanished into the night as quickly as it appeared.

"**May my song grant you your peace,"** said the Oni solemnly as the bird flew off. He then sighed and turned around to face the scared looking Plus. Shaking his head, he returned his Rekka to their straps on the back of his belt before he unclipped his tuning fork. **"Be at peace child, I mean you no harm,"** he said as gently as he could kneeling down in front of the little girl.

"Who, who are you mister?" the Plus asked fearfully, her whole body shaking with fright.

"**One who is to send you on your way little one, you have lingered too long and your love ones await you on the other side," **he said kindly.

"But I promised…" the girl started to say.

"**Promises of the living only burden the dead. If you linger too long child, you will become like the sorry soul that I just fought. And I would hate to have to hunt down one so innocent,"** the Oni said with sad kindness. This was always the hard part, getting a Plus to let go.

"But, I'm scared. Momma and I had a fight before the accident and I… I…" said the girl as she started to tear up. The Oni simply smiled behind his mask.

"**Such things can and are forgiven little one, you need only to show remorse."**

The girl let out a sniffle before standing up shakily, "I'm… I'm sorry Momma" she said softly.

The Oni nodded as he stood up and carefully grasped the end of the girls chain of fate and rapped it smartly with his tuning fork. The device let out a ringing crystal clear tone as he placed it in front of the girl's forehead in the same manner he did to transform. Instantly the girl's form relaxed as the soothing sound of the _Konso no Uta _(Song of the Soul Burial) coursed through her as a the Oni symbol appeared on her forehead before she vanished into a blur of blue light leaving behind yet another gold tipped raven to soar out into the night. **"May you find peace in the beyond little one, and may my song guide your way,"** said the Oni satisfied before he began to walk out o the park releasing his transformation as he went becoming the dark haired young man again. He stopped just out side the park enterence to pick up the bag he had left before he pulled out his cell phone to make a call.

"This is Hibiki, target has been deported and subject crossed over," he said formally but utterly satisfied, "Continuing on to Tokyo."

"Negative Hibiki, new intelligence has come in. For now you are to stay in town," said the voice of one of his superiors in Takashi.

"May I ask why sir? I was to understand that the Tokyo members need back up due to increased Makamou activity?" he asked curiously. Orders were rarely changed mid transit like this and when they did, it usually gave is old sensei that "Bad creak in the bones" feeling.

"Still analyzing the data Hibiki; but at this time we believe that one of the Soul Reapers in the area was injured badly and was forced to transfer their powers to a mortal. However the transfer set off every Spirit Pressure sensor we have from here to the mainland. For now your orders are as follows, to locate recuperating Sour Reaper and the Substitute and ascertain the situation and help as needed. Your support team is already in town creating your cover ID and setting up one our safe houses as your HQ. Also given the nature of the situation, additional units will be dispatched to assist as they become available" stated the superior coolly.

"Understood, text me the address of the Safe House. Hibiki out," said the young man tiredly as he hung up. "Well, guess I'm sticking around for awhile. Hopefully this Karakura Town will be more interesting then my last post" he said to himself as he read the incoming address and headed off not realizing that he had invoked an ancient Chinese curse, _May you live in interesting times._

0o0o0o0o

_Next Day_

_Karakura High School_

'_I can't believe that those two are making me go to school,_' thought Hibiki to himself as he walked through the front gate of the local High school. He had met with his support detail last night and was given his cover ID as a transfer student from America under his old name of Marcus Radner, who was staying with cousins while his parents were away on business. But the worst part was perhaps having to go to school and being around kids his own age. When you spend the majority of your formative years training to fight the forces of evil as an Oni warrior the normal stresses of being a teenager; acne, does he/she like me, homework; seemed so trivial. '_They did this on purpose to get back at for that little joke I pulled on them,_' he concluded as he entered the school.

After registering in the office he made his way to his assigned classroom and was greeted by a short girl with dark black hair that kinda flipped at the ends and a perpetually serious look on her face. "So you're new too?" he asked making conversation causing the girl to jump slightly.

"Don't sneak up on me like that!" she cried angrily as she pounded her chest to steady her heart.

"I didn't sneak up, you weren't paying attention," he retorted hotly.

"I was so!" cried the girl indignantly.

"Yeah, keep telling yourself that… shorty," Hibiki retorted coolly.

The girl's eyes quickly went dangerously sharp as she began to mutter something under her breath that Hibiki couldn't make out when the teacher opened the door. "Alright you two, you can come in now."

0o0o0o0o

"Class I would like introduce to you our two new students, Rukia Kuchiki and Marcus Radner," said Miss. Ochi as Ichigo half heartily paid attention as he tried to wrap his head around what happened last night that was until he heard one of the new students speak.

"Hi everyone, I hope that we all become good friends," said a cheerful version of the strict voice of the Soul Reaper that helped him last night. His eyes bugged out as he saw her standing at the front of the class, waving cheerfully like nothing was wrong. The guy next to her was giving her this look like she was insane as he gave a very casual "Hi."

"Alright Miss. Kuchiki why don't you take a seat behind Mr. Kurosaki and Mr. Radner next to Mr. Sado, then please turn your text books to pg. 52 and read the opening paragraphs," said Miss Ochi but Ichigo only half heard her as Rukia walked past him her eyes conveying a silent message. '_We'll talk later_.'

0o0o0o0o

Hibiki gazed down at the text he was suppose to be reading. He had already read the passage but he wanted to maintain his cover of being an average student. Once he was sure the teacher was no longer paying attention he picked his head up and began to scan the room with his senses. Most Oni had at least rudimentary Spiritual Awareness, usually just enough to track Makamou. Hibiki however was one of the few skilled enough to detect the various fluctuations in individual beings. The only drawback was that he needed to concentrate. With the class silent and the teacher busy, this was the best chance he would get to begin his search for the Substitute Soul Reaper. _'Hmm… No, no, huh a Quincy. I thought they were all dead_,' he thought to himself as he noted one of the students in the front row. A thin, somewhat gangly boy with long bluish black hair and glasses; he looked like the quintessential class nerd. The variance in his Spiritual Pressure though screamed Quincy.

'_He could be problematic_,' thought Hibiki as he made a note of it. '_Normal, normal, boarder line, Extremely boarder line, curiously boarder line, short and… I think we have a winner_,' he came to an orange hair guy in his late teens who looked to have thuggish tendencies, the teacher called him Kurosaki. '_Found the replacement, now just have to find the regular,_' thought Hibiki with a smile as he noted then name. He then leaned back casually just as the teacher stood up and began to speak to the class.

Now came the hard part.

**A/n: **Hope you enjoyed the first chapter, until next time true believers... DISMISSED!


	2. Chapter 2

**A/n: **Here's ch.2 and in record time for me. Many thanks to all my reviewers and to **Kamen Rider Chrome** for Betaing for me. Also many thanks to my reviewers **Okami Princess** and **dragon-cloud16** for inspiring me with thier ideas, this one is for you guys. Also note that I currently have a poll up on my profile asking you which of the Captains or Lieutenants do you want to see fight Hibiki, Todoroki, and Ibuki? Poll will close at the end of chapter five, and now in the words of the great Heath Ledger:

**And here... we... GO...**

Ch. 2: A Bridge between Two Worlds

The sound of the lunch bell was drowned out at students rushed the halls for their midday break. A fact that Hibiki didn't mind in the least, it made it easier to slip into one of the unused classrooms unnoticed as the teachers as they attempted to reign in their unruly charges. Quietly he pulled out a disc case and pulled out two CDs before he pulled out his Henshin Onsa and tapped the two discs turning one red and one green. "Okay you two, keep an eye on Kurosaki-san for me. If you think you have been seen, return to the safe house and report to Myu and Tela" he said before he opened the window and tossed the red disc like a frisbee. It was out a ways before it folded up turning into an origami style hawk called Akanetaka. It cawed before it banked and began to circle the air above it's target. The second disc he dropped to the floor and folded itself becoming a green ape called Ryokuozaru that skillfully climbed up a class room wall and into the vent.

Hibiki nodded satisfied before he pulled out a third disc and tapped it turning it blue. "Watch the Quincy and stay out of sight" he said as he tossed it towards the door and it became a blue wolf, Ruriokami, and darted out through a small crack Hibiki had left. His little friends now off doing their jobs, the Oni warrior exited the room and headed for the roof to have lunch.

0o0o0o0o

Ichigo was not in the best of moods when he met up Rukia at lunch. After suffering through one of his father's usual wake up calls and discovering his entire family thought that last night was just a truck accident; he was in no mood to deal with the overly serious Soul Reaper as she told him how she was stuck in Gigai because she transferred almost all of her powers into him.

"So now it's up to you Ichigo to perform the duties of a Soul Reaper" said finished Rukia as if she was presenting him an award.

"Wha?!" asked Ichigo looking rightfully shocked and overwhelmed as she tried to sugar coat it as that it was only natural for him to do so since he now had the power and the strength she had once had and that he couldn't refuse. "No way, sorry but my monster fighting days are over. Last night was a one time deal; I only wanted to save you and my family. It's your fault that you gave me so much of your powers that you are now virtually useless" he said defiantly before turning to walk off.

"No other choice then" said Rukia resignedly as she pulled on a red fingerless glove with a skull with blue flames before she rushed Ichigo slamming her gloved palm to his forehead forcing his spirit from his body.

"What the hell did you do?" he cried pointing at his now lifeless body.

"Don't worry, now come on. We have new orders" she said coolly before she walked off with Ichigo following behind her because he didn't know how to get back into his body. As they walked off, Akanetaka cawed as it banked around and returned to the school through an open window. His master needed to hear about this.

0o0o0o0o

Hibiki was on his way back to class when he heard the familiar call of one of his Disc Animals and ducked into a storage closet and closed the door just as Akentaka followed him in. He then snapped his fingers causing Akanetaka to fold up and return to its disc form. He then unfolded his Onsa and put the disc on the handle and folded the tongs back so that it looked kinda like a record player. He then spun the disc and replayed the encoded sounds that only an Oni or a member of TAKASHI could understand.

"Well, I guess even Oni can miss the obvious sometimes" he said to himself as he heard Kurosaki's conversation with Rukia before she pulled his soul from his body and headed out, likely on a mission from Soul Society. "Guess, it's time for me to make my big appearance" he said with a smile before he opened the store rooms back window and hopped out to greet his comrades in arms.

0o0o0o0o

It didn't take Hibiki long to track down the pair of Soul Reapers. While the dead were invisible to the normal human eye, they still made noise that any person could be trained to track, given enough time. The trail he had followed led him to a play park were a child Plus was being cased by a huge spider-like Hollow.

Strangely though, Kurosaki san was just standing there almost as if he was in shock. That was until he heard Rukia giving him the third degree on the responsibilities of being a Soul Reaper. On how a Soul Reaper saw all Souls as being equal and that saving one just because he was nearby was abatray and unfair. "Yeah and the pot just called the kettle black" he muttered to himself and made to move in between the boy and the monster, that was until he saw Kurosaki send it flying with one thrust of his huge Zanpakuto.

"So have you made your decision?" asked Rukia.

"Like hell I have, I saved this kid because I wanted to you hear me. What about you?" he answered coldly. "I seem to remember you putting your like on the line to save me last night. Tell me, were you really thinking about your duty when you rushed to help me?" he demanded forcing Rukia to step back at the force of his conviction.

"Of course not, that's the last thing on your mind when you save some one!" he yelled just as the Hollow returned to its feet and charged him. Ichigo spun to around to bury his blade in it's hide only to be stopped by a fully transformed Hibiki who was holding off the Hollow with his Onidume claws buried in it's mask.

"**Well said, Kurosaki-kun**" said Hibiki giving the substitute Soul Reaper an approving nod. Before turning to the Hollow, **"Kiboujutsu Onibi"** he said as part of his mask retracted revealing his mouth and let loose a torrent of purple flames that engulfed the Hollow that sent it scurrying in pain as blood leaked from the gouges in his mask. **"I leave the boy in your hands. The spider freak is mine"** he said before he rushed the beast and leapt onto its back detaching his Kaentsuzumi and planting it just above the hole in its back letting it expand into its Taiko form. **"Ongekida Kaen Renda!"** he yelled as he pulled out his Rekka and began to beat the drum forcefully releasing ripples of purifying energy.

The Hollow shrieked painfully as the power of the beats increased causing its form to become fuzzy and unstable. Finally with the Thirtieth beat, it could take no more and simple exploded purple flames as one of the gold tipped ravens flew off into the sky. **"May you find peace in the beyond"** said Hibiki sadly as he watched the raven fly off. He then turned to two Soul Reapers and sighed. **"Piece of advice Shorty, next time you want give an object lesson. Leave innocent Souls out of it"** he said coolly.

"Okay pal, just who the hell are you?" demanded Ichigo as he pointed his Zanpakuto at him threateningly.

"**Give the boy his Konso first Kurosaki-kun, then you get your answers"** when the boy didn't move he chuckled. **"If I meant you any harm, would I have stopped the Hollow from attacking?"**

Ichigo said nothing but turned to the. "Listen kid, unless you want to become food for another one of those things, you had best pass on" he said before he stamped the butt of his Zanpakuto to the boy's forehead leaving a glowing mark before the boy dissolved into a haze of blue light as a black and red tipped butterfly appeared in his place and flew off. "Okay, now who the hell are you?!" demanded Ichigo as he brought his sword up again.

"**Forgotten my name already Kurosaki-kun" **Hibiki remarked with a chuckle before he let his helmet vanish, revealing his human face.

"Radner-san?"

"YOU!"

"Don't look so surprised Shorty, Soul Society isn't the only game in town when it comes to hunting Hollows" said Hibiki cheekily.

"Okay Rukia, just what is going on here?" demanded Ichigo, upset that he seemed to be missing something.

"As much as it pains me to admit it, but the bone head here is right. There are others besides Soul Reapers that hunt Hollow. Radner-san is one of them. But how someone as moronic as you became an Oni is beyond my comprehension!" said Rukia giving Hibiki an angry glare.

"I'm guessing a lot of things are beyond your comprehension when you use an INNOCENT CHILD as an object lesson in responsibility for your replacement" retorted Hibiki hotly.

"That's it, if you two want to stay and fight fine, but I'm outta here" said Ichigo before he stomped back to school; leaving the two to stare at each other angrily for, both silently blaming the other for chasing him off.

0o0o0o0o

The final bell of the day rang out and Ichigo gladly began to make the trudge home. He was barely out of sight when his honed combat reflexes sensed an object rushing towards his head. He quickly spun around and caught the object revealing a folded tuning fork with a blue handle and bronze Oni head. "Not bad, you reacted a little early. But not bad at all" said Hibiki with a smile as he stepped out of an alley way. "Listen, I'm sorry about earlier. My problem has nothing to do with you and I should have kept my temper in check."

"No, I get it. Rukia can be really bossy and annoying. Besides I never thanked you for your help" responded Ichigo with a shrug.

"And you never have to Kurosaki-kun" said Hibiki with a smile.

"Now you mind telling my why you chucked this at my head Radner-san?" asked Ichigo as he continued on his way letting Hibiki follow.

"My name is Hibiki; I gave up the name Marcus Radner when I became an Oni. And that is for you, consider it a back up weapon, incase Rukia isn't around to evict you from your body or you face something that you can't kill as a Soul Reaper. It's a Training Onsa, Oni in training use it to transform before they receive a transformation device of their own" explained Hibiki casually.

"Then why give it to me?" asked Ichigo as he looked at the device curiously and unfolded it to examine it properly looking at the two sided Oni head, one grinning and one snarling.

"You're a curiosity Kurosaki-kun. That little stunt you and Shorty pulled last night set off every sensor my people have from here to the main land. Something like that does NOT happen by accident. And until I know just what is going on, I'm sticking around to help you out" he said matter of factly.

"We really did all that?" asked Ichigo with mild surprise.

"Yeah, and it's only a matter of time before Soul Society gets wind of the situation. Then things start to get very dicey" said the Oni warrior worriedly.

"But… Rukia said she already contacted Soul Society. They told us when and where that boy was going to be attacked" said Ichigo defensively.

"Huh, we have teams monitoring all communications between Earth and Soul Society. As far as they know, they haven't receive Rukia's report yet or have sent any new orders" said Hibiki starting to sound worried.

"So what does that mean?"

Hibiki looked at Ichigo and sighed heavily. "Okay, what I am about to tell you stays between us for now. For awhile my organization, the TAKASHI, have believed there has been something going on in Soul Society. That someone had been manipulating certain events and causing trusted high ranking Soul Reapers to go underground or face punishment for trumped up charges. And to be brutally honest, a Soul Reaper transferring their powers to a human, is not something that is usually smiled upon by the Soul Society leadership. I suspected that's why my bosses assigned me here, to make sure that any action taken by Soul Society in response to this is… contained" he said worriedly.

"What the HELL do you mean by contained" demanded Ichigo furiously as his voice started to rise angrily.

"That is their term for it, not mine. Besides that is only a worse case scenario, for all I know my people just missed something or that bastard Kurotsuchi is messing with new forms of signal encoding again. But experience has taught me to be ready for the worst possible out come" said Hibiki resignedly. All these little things were beginning to leave a bad taste in his mouth. He had read the records of the Vizard exodus and the expulsion of former captain Urahara, he had even been told by his old master that a couple TAKASHI members of the time helped get them to this side. Deep down in his bones, he knew something was going on. He just didn't have enough to see the full picture yet.

"So, just what are we going to do about it?" asked Ichigo seriously.

"WE, I thought you wanted nothing to do with hunting Hollows and being a Soul Reaper?" remarked Hibiki with a knowing smirk.

"I don't but, I owe Rukia for helping to save me and my family and because… If I have the power to help people, souls or otherwise, and don't. Then I'm nothing more then the punk some of the jerks around here believe me to be" Ichigo answered solemnly. Hibiki could tell that there was more to it then that but he knew enough not to pry deeper.

"You just need to be able to do things your own way" he said with a smile. "I can get that, even better, I can respect that" he then sighed heavily. "For now, nothing; Shorty probably thinks that her situation is just being evaluated before any action is taken. The stress of that is more then enough for anyone to handle and keep the Onsa to yourself as long as possible. I don't want Soul Society to know how involved we are until we know who to trust."

"And how do I know I can trust you?" asked Ichigo sarcastically.

"That you have to answer for yourself Kurosaki-kun, see you tomorrow" said Hibiki before he walked off, leaving the Substitute Soul Reaper to ponder his knew reality.

0o0o0o0o

_TAKASHI Safe house_

_That evening_

"Are you sure Myu?" asked Hibiki as he met with his support team once he had returned to the safe house.

"I'm telling you Hibiki, we have nothing. Nothing official has come through from Soul Society" said Myu; a serious, athletic girl, about 5'8" with brown hair pulled into a pony tail.

"And I'm guessing we still don't have authorization to check the emergency or private channels?" asked Hibiki. Myu simple shook her head in response.

Hibiki just gave an aggravated sigh before the other member of his support team Tela, a willowy girl a little shorter then Myu with short black hair, burst into the room looking panicking, "Hibiki-chan, HIBIKI-CHAN!"

"Tela, slow down and breath" said Hibiki calmly making her take several breaths. "Now what is it?"

"Our system was tracking a lingering Plus near one of the boarder line subjects you detected during class. It was just attacked by a couple of Hollows and dragged off to Hueco Mundo" she said as she was fighting to catch her breath.

"Dammit, where was it?" demanded Hibiki as he grabbed his coat.

"On the west side, at the residence of Orihime Inoue" responed Myu reading the print out Tela was clutching.

"Right, with any luck I can get a read on the ones who attacked" said the Oni warrior as he left noting the sinking feeling in his gut. _"This is going to be a bad one."_

**A/n: **As always all reviews, flames, critiques, death threats, ect. are welcome.

Until next time true believers... Dismissed.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/n: **Another chapter yay. Current poll results have a four way tie between **Gin, Tosen, Hitsugaya, and Rangiku.** I ask all my readers to please visit my profile page and vote on the poll so that you can get your favorite Lt or Capt. gets their rightful vote. Only two more updates before I close. As always lots of thanks to my Beta, **Kamen Rider Chrome**, for all his help.

And now submitted for your approval...

Ch. 3: A Brother's Fall

"HERE MY VOICE O'LORD, HELP YOUR HUMBLE CHILD UNDERSTAND WHY SHE WAS BORN…" was the scene Hibiki came upon when he ran into Ichigo and Rukia the following day. It was Sunday, no school, so it was no surprise to see the two out and about. But what was with Rukia?

"WOULD YOU PLEASE JUST SHUT UP ALREADY!!!" yelled Ichigo shocking the out of action Soul Reaper back to reality and, in Hibiki's mind, not a moment too soon.

"You do know that people read silently nowadays Shorty," remarked Hibiki as he approached the two to hopefully keep them from making a, even bigger, scene.

"I'll have you two know that I'm reading aloud to learn contemporary language!" retorted Rukia coolly.

"Yeah well you might want to try learning from something printed in the last two-HUNDRED years," said Hibiki as he turned his head to read the title of the book. "Yeah no one reads that unless it's for school."

"I happen to like this book thank you very much!" she answered hotly.

"Well next time try something printed THIS century!" said Ichigo.

Rukia looked as if she was about to let loose a torrent of fury upon the pair of them when the sound of screeching tires brought the trio back to the here and now. They quickly raced to the crosswalk where they saw a girl with long burnt orange hair laid out near the sidewalk.

"Orihime!" yelled Ichigo as he rushed to her side to help her up. "Did you just get hit by that car?"

"Oh Ichigo," she said with a small blush as she stood up looking confused and rather ditsy. "Maybe…"

"What you mead maybe, it either hit you or it didn't," said Hibiki looking confused. '_How the hell could someone not know if they got hit by a car?'_ he thought to himself, until he noticed the discoloration on her leg, like a large hand had grabbed her.

"Oh you needn't worry; it was just a little bump on my head. I'm fine, I swear," said Orihime cheerfully.

"You sure you're okay?" asked Ichigo concerned, not only for Orihime but for himself as well. If Tatsuki or, god forbid, Chizuru found out that she was hurt in his presence; it would be a one way trip to the hurt locker named Tatsuki's fist and Chizuru's foot.

"I'm fine," she said reassuringly before she noticed the two new people. "Oh you're Rukia and Marcus right?"

"Yeah and…" started Rukia rudely before Hibiki pulled her to the side.

"She's our classmate, we met her yesterday. Doesn't your brain have room for anything non Soul Reaper related?" said the Oni warrior in a reprimanding tone.

Rukia quickly gave him a sharp kick to the shin in response before recomposing herself and introducing herself properly. While the two talked, Hibiki slipped a piece of paper to Ichigo. "Meet me at this address. Something is up," he said quietly.

Ichigo nodded in understanding just as Orihime retrieved her scattered groceries. "My leaks, bananas, butter and bean jam seems to okay too," she said cheerfully causing the two boys to sweat drop. One because having known of the girl's odd tastes for many years, and the other hearing the legendary stories from the few that had survived such encounters.

'_And I thought Sensei's cooking was bad and all he did was overcook the food. It was at least still edible,' _thought Hibiki to himself.

0o0o0o0o

_Outside the TAKESHI safe-house  
__That afternoon_

"So… that girl?" started Rukia as the pair walked towards the location of their meeting with the local Oni.

"You mean, Orihime?"

"Yes, are you close to her?" asked Rukia casually. Ever since their encounter earlier something had been bugging her, especially that bruise on Orihime's leg. She might not have seen a car accident before but she was sure they did not leave marks like that. She was also sure that the Bonehead who called himself an Oni noticed it also which was why he wanted to meet.

"Not really, I barely know her and we don't talk that much. But she's friends with a buddy of mine from the neighborhood so I see her around from time to time" he answered casually before his face became serious and thoughtful. "However, a couple of years ago, she lost her brother in a bad car accident. He was the only family she had. I remember because he was taken to our clinic until the ambulance came for him."

Rukia just looked pensively at the ground, her face a mask of seriousness. Given this new information, she had a better idea of what was going on with Orihime, the problem was that she didn't like where this situation was going.

"Well this is it," said Ichigo as they came to the house at the end of the block. It was a two story western style house painted white with a brown roof and a brick base with small yards in the front and back and surrounded by a chest high concrete fence with no gate at the entrance, but there was a strange diagram inscribed on the ground of the opening drawn in red weather proof paint. "That's weird. What's the point of having a fence if you don't have a gate?" asked Ichigo sounding annoyed.

"You only need one if you don't mind people coming or going as they please," said Rukia simply before they crossed the sigil and entered the property, neither noticing it glowing slightly before returning to normal.

As Ichigo made to knock on the door, it opened to reveal a girl a little older then them, with brown hair pulled into a ponytail. "Can I help you?" she asked stiffly, not looking pleased.

"Yeah, a friend of ours told us to meet him here…"

"So you're the replacement Soul Reaper huh?" she said cutting Ichigo off. "Gotta say, I think Hibiki-kun gave you too much credit," said the girl coldly causing Ichigo to go beet red in anger and to clutch his fist so hard that they could have drawn blood if they weren't so callused.

"Oh really, and just who the HELL are you lady?!" said the orange headed Substitute Soul Reaper angrily.

"TAKESHI Senior Support Officer to Hibiki: Myu Nakamura. A pleasure to meet you… Strawberry-kun," she said in a sweet sarcastic tone that caused Rukia to forcefully stifle her laughter as Ichigo's face turned the color of hot coals and steam began to poor out of his ears and nose.

"Okay, THAT'S IT!!!" he yelled and launched his fit at the girls face only to have Hibiki appear out of nowhere and catch it effortlessly.

"I know that's difficult in Myu's case Kurosaki-kun, but please don't hit my partners," said Hibiki with a chuckle before turning to Myu chidingly. "And I thought you said you were going to be nice when they got here?"

"I was, I didn't make fun of Billboard chest did I?" said Myu defensively causing Rukia to quite laughing and to go even redder then Ichigo had and to cover her chest protectively.

"I'll have you know that I am at the proper developmental stage for a soul my age," Rukia said angrily.

"Yeah but you still have a Billboard chest."

Myu's last tease was the straw that broke the camel's back. _"Ye lord! Mask of flesh and bone, flutter of wings, ye who bears the name of man! Truth and temperance, upon this sinless wall of dreams unleash but the slightly wrath of your claws!"_Hibiki and Ichigo's highly developed danger sense went off and made the two guys dive for cover leaving Rukia a clear path to her target. _"Hado #33: Sokatsui!"_yelled the short Soul Reaper and released a torrent of blue spirit energy that struck Myu hard and sent her careening into the wall at the back of the house.

"Huh, that's interesting," remarked Hibiki looking surprised.

"What, you never seen a Hado performed before?" asked Rukia coldly and slightly breathless.

"No, surprised that the house wards let so much destructive energy in," answered Hibiki innocently before turning his head towards the house. "TELA, WHAT HAPPENED TO THE WARDS?"

"Myu-chan was being a meany so I weakened them a little to teach her a lesson," said a girl's voice.

"A LITTLE?! TELA THAT SPELL NEARLY DISTROYED THE WHOLE FRONT OF THE HOUSE!" yelled Hibiki sounding incredulous.

"I didn't kill her," said the voice innocently.

"I am so killing that little witch," groaned Myu as she pulled her self out of the crater she had made in the wall.

"No Myu, you're going to the hardware store to get some plaster and fix that wall," said Hibiki stiffly as he and Ichigo stood up.

"But its Tela's fault!" whined Myu.

"And it would not have happened if you had just been nice to our guests. Now go," said Hibiki chidingly. Myu huffed angrily before grabbing her bag and heading out, muttering angrily.

"Is it like this all the time?" asked Ichigo worriedly.

"No, Myu must have done something to make Tela really upset to go this far. She usually limits herself to switching Myu's shampoo with glue or something like that," said Hibiki as he let the pair into the house. "Please forgive my teammate. Myu is a little rough around the edges but she's one of the best support officers in TAKESHI."

"No, I shouldn't have let my temper get the better of me," Rukia now feeling childish that she let something as trivial as her chest size get to her.

"Forget it Shorty, Myu gets to everyone at least once. The first time I met her, I used my Onibi to set fire to her pants. Best revenge I ever got," said Hibiki with a wiry chuckle as he led the pair down into the basement and to a locked steel door.

"Seriously, how did you survive the aftermath?" asked Ichigo in something akin to awe.

"There wasn't one. Afterwards Myu came up to me and said that next time I should wait until she sits down before lighting her pants on fire," answered Hibiki honestly as he took out his Onsa and used it as a key to open the door.

"And I thought my dad was weird," said Ichigo quietly to Rukia as they followed Hibiki into his base.

The space was essentially two rooms, the first being a type of monitoring station filled with various computers and a large plasma screen that took up the entire back wall. The second looked like a old fashion study, every wall had at least one book shelf and each was filled with ancient looking books and scrolls and a few scattered on the table along with print outs.

"Greetings Soul Reapers. Welcome to Hibiki's Secret Basement of Contemplation. I'm TAKESHI Junior Support Officer: Tela Sugiyama, at your service," said a black haired girl cheerfully as they entered before turning to her boss "The data is ready for you Hibiki-san."

"'Secret Basement of Contemplation'?" asked Rukia looking to Hibiki silently asking if this girl was for real. The Oni just chuckled before going over to the terminal himself to examine the readings.

"Hey, every secret base needs a cool name," said Ichigo casually. "Read a comic book."

"Okay Tela, put it on the screen please," said Hibiki before turning to his two friends. "Now for the reason I called you here, last night our sensors picked up an unfortunate soul being pulled into Hueco Mundo. I didn't think too much of it last night until I saw Inoue-san today and I compared their Spiritual Resonance Frequencies…"

"Okay Hibiki you lost me," said Ichigo feeling like a total dunce for the third time that day. It got even worse when he saw Rukia pull out one of her infamous drawing pads. Hibiki thankfully saved him their horror with a quick explanation.

"SRF is like Spiritual DNA. Analyzing a person's SRF can tell us various things, such as determining familial relationships. The analysis determined that the captured spirit was Orihime Inoue's sibling."

"Wait, you mean that Sora got eaten by a Hollow!" exclaimed Ichigo in shock

"If we're lucky," said Hibiki earning him an angry glare from Ichigo.

"What DO you mean lucky?"

Hibiki sighed and looked at Rukia. "You got this one Shorty. I would have told him at the outset," said Hibiki tiredly. Ichigo just looked at Rukia, tensely waiting for an explanation.

The Soul Reaper just sighed heavily. "At the academy, Soul Reapers-in-training are taught to attack their opponents from behind or with wide slashes, so as to avoid accidentally seeing what resides underneath their masks."

"Why, what's underneath the masks that you have to avoid seeing it?" demanded Ichigo. Rukia tried to answer but the words seemed to stick in her throat. Seeing this Hibiki answered.

"Underneath the mask of every Hollow, is the face of the person they used to be."

"What?" asked Ichigo looking stunned and confused.

"It's hard enough fighting Hollows as it is, you don't need to see the pain on their face as you cut them down," reasoned Rukia solemnly.

"You mean I've been killing people all this time?! Damn it Rukia why didn't you tell me?" yelled Ichigo angrily.

"I was trying to protect you. Once I got my powers back I didn't want you burdened with that knowledge needlessly," said Rukia defensively.

"But I'm still killing people…"

"Actually you're not," said Hibiki calmly halting the fight before it built up any more steam. Ichigo just looked at Hibiki incredulously like he had grown a third head. "When a Hollow is cut down by a Zanpakuto or purified by an Oni's Ongeki, they are absolved of all the evil they have done as a Hollow and is allowed to enter Soul Society unburdened," he explained. "No one has died by your hands Kurosaki-kun. Only freed."

"Only freed," said Ichigo to himself as his mind came to grips with this new reality. "So right now, if Sora has been turned into a Hollow, then only way to get him back is to cut him down right?" Hibiki and Rukia both nodded in confirmation. "So where do I find him?"

"If he has been turned then he will most likely attack the source of reason to stay behind, in this case it is most likely his feelings for his sister," explained Rukia.

"So we keep watch at Orihime's for a few days and if nothing happens then all that's left is for us to hunt down the Hollow that ate him and kill it," said Ichigo.

"We already are Kurosaki-kun," said Hibiki reassuringly. "We already are."

0o0o0o0o

_Inoue Residence  
That night_

"What?! And they were together?" exclaimed Tatsuki as Orihime told her what had happened earlier that day. Tatsuki had stopped by with some dinner, not trusting Orihime's curious taste in cuisine, and the two friends had gotten to talking.

"They weren't alone Tatsuki, that new boy Marcus was with them too."

"Oh, okay then. For I minute there I thought Ichigo went and became some kind of ladies man of something," said the tomboyish martial artists in relief. The last thing she wanted was one of her oldest friends becoming one of the guys she regularly had to give reality checks to. "Still, the least Ichigo could've done was walk you home."

"Its okay, from the looks of it, he and Marcus had something important to talk about," said Orihime as she took a bite of her food.

'_The guy only just came to our school. What could be so important between them already?'_Tatsuki asked herself. "So what's this Marcus guy like?"

"He seems nice enough. He is a little quiet and always seems so calm and serene. It's really…" said Orihime softly as her eyes began to drift when. "I'M WARNING YOU CHAMP! YOU BETTER WATCH OUT BECAUSE I'M WINNING THIS FIGHT!"

"Orihime wake up you're daydreaming!" yelled Tatsuki. It was one of her friend's constant problems. In the middle of conversation she would just zone out and begin acting crazy. This time it seemed she was a championship boxer. Tatsuki tried to shake her out of it when an eerie roar echoed through the house bringing her back to reality just as Orihime's stuffed pink teddy bear fell off his shelf.

"Oh, poor Enraku fell down!" she cried as she crawled over to pick it up. "Oh my gosh, how did you get this big rip in your head?"

"That's strange," said Tatsuki before the sound echoed out again, something was going on and it wasn't good.

0o0o0o0o

"Hollow has been detected!" Tela reported as she pinpointed the coordinates. "And it's at Inoue's!"

"Look like it's already started, as expected," said Hibiki grimly just as his cell phone began to ring ominously.

**End A/n: **As far as I know SRF is an origional creation that I came up with. If there are any disputes please let me know in a review. As always all reviews, critiques, flames, and Death Threats are welcome. (Even if I only use those final two as cheap fule for my car.)

Until next time true believers... DISMISSED!


	4. Chapter 4

**A/n: **Another chapter down, big thanks to **Kamen Rider Chrome **and to my reviewers **Okami Princess **and **skinnydude911. **You guys all rock.

And now submitted for your approval:

Ch. 4: The Siblings Wish

_Near the Inoue home  
__Moments later_

Hibiki was roof hopping as fast as he could. Rukia had called saying that she and Ichigo had just encountered a Hollowfied Sora and that he seemed to be controlled by another more powerful Hollow that seemed to be interested in Ichigo. Not wanting to take any chances he raced out towards the Inoue home to, hopefully, stop Orihime's brother before it did something terrible.

"Can't you keep up, Bonehead?" yelled Rukia as she rode on Ichigo's back several feet ahead of him.

"Forgive me for needing to breathe, Shorty. Besides, it's been awhile since I've roof hopped regularly," retorted Hibiki as he pushed himself onward. He was built for fighting and endurance, not speed, for Kami's sake.

"Well, maybe if you transformed, you could keep up," recommended Ichigo as he pushed himself onward.

"I'm not invisible like you, Kurosaki-kun. Seeing a man roof hop in public is one thing. Seeing an Oni doing it would draw too much attention," the Oni warrior said curtly just as they came upon the Inoue home and stiffened. "Stay sharp, guys. He's not alone in there."

0o0o0o0o

"Stay away!" yelled Tatsuki as she pulled back against the wall. Some invisible… thing had gotten in the house and had knocked Orihime unconscious and had been batting Tatsuki around like a rag doll. For a few seconds she could just make out the shape of the beast before it tossed her away again.

What she couldn't see was her friend's spirit kneeling next to her trying to calm her down. "Tatsuki, what's wrong? It's just me."

"_It's no use Orihime, she can't hear us. She can't even see us,"_ said the monster coldly as it approached them.

"Why and how do you know my name?" asked Orihime worriedly as she tried to figure out why there were currently two of her and why she had this chain hooked to her chest.

"_Is that really all you have to say? After all the work Fisher-sama did in remaking your brother, this is how you greet him?"_ shrieked a voice evilly as a second large monster appeared from a portal in the wall that seemed kinda rat-like in appearance with a scaly tail and it's mask looking like a rat's skull.

"Sora? No it can't be?!" cried Orihime as she looked at the first monster and for a moment could see behind the red glow and saw eyes that she had once known.

"_It makes me sad Orihime, that you've forgotten my voice. How could you? It's me, can't you tell?" _said the first monster pleadingly.

"NO, it can't be! You CAN'T be Sora!" she cried tearfully not understanding what could have warped her bother like this.

"_It makes me sad Orihime. So very, very SAD!" _it yelled as it made to strike her with its clawed hand. She cringed as the blow came down, but it never connected. Cautiously she opened her eyes. There holding off the monster's attack was Ichigo, dressed in black ceremonial robes, wielding a large sword crossed by a what looked like a drumstick topped with a red jewel like an Oni head being wielded by Hibiki.

"Radner-san, what, how?" asked Tatsuki startled at seeing the new guy appear like that and seem to see and hold off the thing that was just attacking her.

"Get Orihime's body outta here, we'll handle this," said Hibiki firmly as he pulled out his Onsa and flicked it open. "Take care of her brother, Kurosaki-kun. The rat's mine" he said seemingly to thin air before he tapped his Onsa on his watch an letting out a crystal clear tone and brought it to his forehead making his Oni crest appear. Tatsuki then had to shield her eyes as he was enveloped in purple flames which forced the two monsters to retreat back through their dark portals and knocked her back stunning her slightly.

"Thanks for saving me Ichigo, you too Marcus," said Orihime gratefully.

"What? Orihime how the hell can you-?" Ichigo started to say until he saw the chain protruding from her chest.

"**Damn, Sora's initial attack must have been enough to force her from her body. We'll have to work quickly to finish this. If she stays out of her body to long…"** said Hibiki leaving the consequences unsaid. For two men such as them, they didn't need to be.

"_You're welcome to try!" _yelled Sora as he and the Rat Hollow appeared again. The two warriors charged at them but Sora was able to dive around them and grab Orihime's chain of fate and drag her outside as the Rat Hollow moved to attack a still stunned Tatsuki only to be batted aside by Hibiki's Onidume.

"**Go I'll deal with this one. You just save Orihime!"** yelled Hibiki. Ichigo nodded and quickly followed Sora out of the house. **"Now it's just you and me rat boy,"** said Hibiki coldly as he charged at the Hollow.

0o0o0o0o

Tatsuki's head was pounding when she came to and her shoulder throbbed from the wound she took earlier. But all the thoughts of pain seemed to vanish as she saw the battle taking place before her was as a man in what appeared to be a purple, Kabuki influenced, armor fighting against the vague outline of something that looked like a huge rat. "Am I dreaming?" she asked herself just as the monster got in a lucky hit that sent the armored warrior careening back to crater the wall next to her.

"**Trust me, you're not dreaming. Now stay back, this guy is tougher then he looks," **said the warrior with a groan as he got up and rushed at the thing again, not even realizing that his Rekka had fallen from their holsters, raking its hide with his Onidume.

Enraged the beast countered by bashing the Oni with a huge swipe of it's tail and sending him crashing into a wall and landing in pile dazed. _"He he he, big bad Oni. Thinking you can beat me. Such a shame, but I've always wondered what an Oni's soul must taste like,"_ said the Rat Hollow with evil hunger before it lunged at him.

Seeing this, Tatsuki reacted on instinct and grabbed Hibiki's fallen Rekka and charged, focusing all her remaining strength into the weapons in the hopes of stopping the semi-invisible monster and dazing it long enough to get the weapons to the thing that was defending her. But the Rekka had different plans. Reacting to the martial artist's feelings for protecting her friend and helping the person who had fought the monster, it channeled her strength, igniting burning red flames that burst into flaming blades. With a furious yell, Tatsuki struck leaving two long crisscrossing slashes on the Hollow's back.

"_Aggh! You BITCH!"_ it bellowed painfully as it rolled out of the way.

"**Not bad kid,"** said Hibiki as he staggered to his feet, his one arm covered in blood from a gash the monster had given him. **"I can take him from here,"** Tatsuki nodded and flipped the Rekka over and handed them handle first to the person who had helped to save her. **"Now move your friend out of the way," **he said motioning towards Orihime's motionless form as he unhooked his Kaentsuzumi and tossed it at the Rat Hollow hard, making it adhere to its chest.

He then gave his Rekka a quick twirl and checked to make sure the two girls where clear of the blast zone. **"I normally wouldn't use this technique is such closed quarters, but you are just too dangerous to live. Ongekida: Mouka Dotou!" **Hibiki rushed at the Hollow hitting it with a powerful fist blow causing it to knock back into the wall hard before he began pounding out a normal drum beat building up energy before giving his Kaentsuzumi a final hit causing the Rat Hollow to explode in a fiery burst releasing a Karasu Hikimawasu (Guiding Crow) into the night.

Tatsuki cringed as the shockwave from the creature's destruction hit her. Once it had past her eyes saw anew. She could see some of the fiery remains of the monster she had only seen a silhouette of, the chain of fate attached to Orihime's unconscious body, and the black blood from where she had cut the Hollow. "Wha-wha-what's going on?! What is THIS?!" she screamed in shock.

"**Something best discussed in daylight,"** said Hibiki from behind her and giving her a light chop to the neck, knocking her unconscious. He then laid her next to Orihime and slipped a note into her hand before he headed outside to assist Ichigo and Rukia.

0o0o0o0o

Ichigo shielded his eyes as Sora plunged his Zanpakuto into his throat and disintegrated into a haze of blue light and out of the corner of his eye he could see one of those crows that appeared whenever Hibiki killed a Hollow fly out of the haze and into the night. His entire being felt like a lead weight, he had witnessed the total an utter downfall and subsequent redemption of a single person take place in the time frame it took most TV shows to air. At that moment he barely had the fortitude to stand.

"Looks like you two were able to handle things," said Hibiki as he approached the group, his face no longer transformed.

"Oh yeah, a peace of cake," said Ichigo sarcastically.

"I didn't say you had it easy, I said you handled things," said the Oni warrior approvingly as he gave the substitute Soul Reaper a pat on his shoulder as he approached a still crying Orihime, still suffering from reliving her initial loss and losing her brother all over again. With a sigh he kneeled next to her and smiled comfortingly, "Your brother is at peace now and he will be taken care of in Soul Society. I promise," he said warmly.

"I know, I just…" said Orihime as she sniffled sadly.

"We understand," said Rukia as she pulled out a spray can from her pajama pocket. "Now sleep," and gave the girl a short spray causing her to pass out.

"Hey what the hell is that?" asked Ichigo vehemently as Orihime drifted into a deep sleep.

"Just something to make her sleep and forget Kurosaki-kun; I normally don't condone their use but given what's happened tonight… Best she remembers her brother as he was, not what he had become," said Hibiki sadly before the three of them carried Orihime back into the house and returned her soul to her body.

"Okay I get making them forget the whole Sora became a monster thing, but just how are we going to explain this mess?" asked Ichigo pointing out the rather large holes and gouges in the walls made during the battle.

Hibiki just smiled before he pilfered Rukia's phone, "Hey!"

"Calm down Shorty," he said as he dialed. "Tela-chan, it's me. Call up Maintenance Services. Tell them to bring a full crew and lots of coffee to this location and we need it done by morning… I can't help it if I didn't reserve a crew… Just tell them to get down here and I will get them the paper work tomorrow… Thank you Tela-chan," he said and then hung up and tossed the phone back to Rukia. "That's done now let's go. The last thing I want is to deal with Maintenance without at least eight hours of sleep," said Hibiki with a chuckle as he leapt out to one of the near by roofs as Ichigo followed carrying Rukia.

"Sleep sounds good, I just hope you don't snore, Rukia," remarked Ichigo cheekily causing Hibiki to look over at the pair as if he missed something.

"Why would it matter if Rukia snores?"

"I don't snore, idiot," said Rukia defensively smacking Ichigo on the head. "And not that it's any of your concern but I happen to be staying at Ichigo's."

"You mean squatting in my closet," retorted Ichigo sourly causing Hibiki to almost loose his footing.

"Squatting in a closet, uh uh, not this lifetime," said Hibiki coolly as he swiftly grabbed Rukia and swung her over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes.

"HEY YOU BONEHEAD! PUT ME DOWN!"

"The safe house has four extra rooms and an underground barracks. She can stay there. I'll have one of the girls come by and pick up her stuff tomorrow," said the Oni with finality before giving Ichigo a wave before heading in the direction of the safe house with a kicking and screaming Rukia trying to fight him off. Ichigo just felt relieved. The last thing he wanted was to explain to his father was why Rukia was always hanging around his room or explain to his sisters why their clothes and PJ's seemed to go missing.

0o0o0o0o

_Karakura High_

_Following Day_

Tatsuki felt as if she was dreaming when she arrived at school the next day. She had woken-up at Orihime's house that morning with a note stuffed into her hand.

_Orihime will remember nothing of what happened for the time being and its best that she doesn't so whatever she believes happened last night, just go with it. We'll talk at school._

_A Friend_

Thankfully, she usually kept a spare uniform at Orihime's for whenever she slept over, so there was no rush to get home and change and then run off to school. Now that she was here though, she didn't know what to do or what to expect from the strange new student.

"Looking for someone?" asked Hibiki appearing behind her suddenly causing her to nearly deck him out of pure instinct only for the Oni to dodge the hit like one of those Agent guys from an American movie that Tatsuki liked. "Whoa! Is that the thanks I get for saving your life?" he remarked cheekily as he tugged on his uniform to straiten out the wrinkles.

"Yeah, well I would be more gracious if I didn't get KNOCKED OUT afterward!" retorted Tatsuki sounding rather ticked.

"Trust me it was for the best," Hibiki said as he began to walk towards the school building.

"FOR THE BEST!? Just what could warrant you knocking me out?!" shouted Tatsuki angrily as she followed the strange guy.

"I would rather not have to wait for your latent spiritual awareness to become strong enough to overcome a Soul Reaper memory replacement before I begin training you," he said matter of factly as they reached the shoe lockers outside their class room.

"Training me? What do you mean training me and what the hell happened last night AND what the HELL is a Soul Reaper? And just what the HELL ARE YOU?!" asked Tatsuki as she tossed her shoes angrily into the cubby hole.

"Short version: when you die you become what is called a Plus or a whole spirit. A Soul Reaper's is essentially a guide to allow a Plus to crossover to wherever it is that they need to go. Now they are not perfect and things do happen and sometimes spirits with unfinished business or some other burden are allowed to linger and become consumed by that which is keeping them here, becoming, what is called, a Hollow. Following me so far?" asked Hibiki as he put his own shoes away. Tatsuki simply gave him a cool look.

"Anyway, Hollows are humans spirits essentially stripped down to their raw instincts and emotions becoming little more then animals. When something like that happens it is the job of Soul Reapers and guys like me to cut them down and free them from their burdens and allow them to pass on freely" he continued as he pulled on his slippers.

"So you're some kind of Grim Reaper or something?" asked Tatsuki incredulously causing Hibiki to let out a barking laugh.

"Please, do I look dead? I'm no Soul Reaper. No, that's your pal Ichigo's job; I'm an Oni, a guardian, a protector against those things that most humans just… can't deal with."

"Wait you are losing me here, just start from the beginning," said Tatsuki becoming hopelessly lost.

"Alright, but you should have let me finish the Short version," said the Oni with a smile and began to explain fully just what it was that she was now getting into in it's full Technicolor glory.

0o0o0o0o

**A/n: **Another chapter down, next time we meet our favorite silent giant and a supposidly cursed Parakeet. And the Hibiki Team meets their new boss and Tatsuki begins down the path to becoming an Oni. As always all reviews, flames, death threats, critiques, and defamations are welcome.

So until next time true believers... DISMISSED!


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: **Sorry this took so long to get out. Writer's block and real life can be a real bitch at times. Anyway lots of thanks to all my reviewers and to my beta **Kamen Rider Chrome** for all his help. Now as this is chapter five the poll is officially closed and the winners are:

**Soifon, Rangiku, and Hitsugaya.**

Thanks alot to everyone who voted and to all of you upset by the results... YOU SHOULD HAVE VOTED!

Now with that out of the way... one moment... my attorny has told me to tell that Bleach is owned by Tite Kubo and Kamen Rider is owned by Toei, neither of which is mine so please do not sue me for playing in your sandbox.

Anyway... I now submit for your approval:

Ch. 5: Getting the Bird

_Karakura Train Station_

"_**Express Train from Yoshino now arriving on platform two, please watch your step,"**_ informed the station PA as the doors opened and two people walked out on to the station proper.

"Are you sure about this my dear? I mean you should check in with Hibiki-kun first. He is the Oni assigned to this area, he can help," said an older man around fifty or so years old. He was wearing glasses and was dressed in a sweater vest over a blue dress shirt and tie.

"This is personal, Oyadama (1). That monster destroyed something precious. I plan to see that he pays for it," said the brown-haired woman that was with him. She was in her late teens to early twenties and dressed in a simple blouse and jeans with a black overcoat. Around her neck on a silver chain hung a gold whistle with an Oni face on it and decorated with blue highlights.

"Amaki-chan, you mustn't give in to your anger. Remember what your sensei taught you," said the man fiercely, his eyes betraying his worry.

"It's for Ibuki-sensei that I'm doing this. I promised that I would protect them and I failed, the least I can do is see that they get justice," said Amaki coldly before she turned sharply and left the old man behind and only stopping to claim what looked like an instrument case from baggage claim.

As she left, the old man sighed. "This is fuka, very fuka (2)."

0o0o0o0o

_TAKESHI_ _Safe-house_

_Training Hall_

It had been a little more then a week since the incident with Orihime's brother and Hibiki had explained things to Tatsuki. Overall she had been very accepting of everything… Right after she had beaten the snot out of Ichigo for not telling her, "his oldest friend", himself.

_Flashback_

"I said I was sorry!" yelled Ichigo as Tatsuki sent him flying into a wall with a well placed fist that was usually reserved for Chizuru.

"Oh trust me you will be sorry Mister Soul Reaper, right after I finish punishing you for keeping secrets from your best FRIEND!" she yelled back as she began stomping on him with her hard sole shoes.

"And you want to train her as an Oni," remarked Rukia as she and Hibiki watched this little tirade, neither one wanting to get in the middle of it.

"Trust me, I've seen worse apprentices become first rate Oni. Hell Shorty, I was worse then her when I began my training," said Hibiki reassuringly before checking his watch. "Five more minutes Tatsuki then let him… PUT DOWN THAT TELEPHONE POLE!"

_End Flashback_

Okay so the girl went a little overboard but it was necessary to get that out of her system lest it fester into something far worse. He still remembered the stories his sensei had told him about Shuki; an Oni that had been consumed by her inner darkness and became little more then a Makamou when she was finally defeated by her former student, Zanki, almost thirty-five years ago.

Prior to taking her on as his apprentice, he had observed Tatsuki during those first few days in Karakura and found her to be a little tempermental, incredibly protective of her friends, especially Orihime, and prone to charging head first without thinking whenever said friends were in danger. Such emotions were useful to Oni, but they needed to be reigned in by patience, serenity, and above all else focus on the task at hand. Oni who lost their focus… well they were not long for the world anymore, which was why he had Tatsuki training with Myu.

"Come on Tom-boy, how you expect to be an Oni if you can even handle a washout like me in a little one-on-one," taunted the TAKESHI Support Officer as she danced around the younger girl's fist easily.

"Remember, Tatsuki-chan. An Oni must be focused at all times. Don't let Myu goad into losing it," he cautioned calmly as he an Ichigo watched the pair go at.

"I never thought I would ever see the day when Tatsuki couldn't handle a fight," remarked Ichigo with a bit of shock. Tatsuki was always the better fighter out of the pair. He was more a brawler, with all the scrapes he got into there was never any time for technique to come into the equation. But by and far, Tatsuki was the best technical fighter in their class, if not the whole town. Now however, she was getting schooled by, as Myu put it herself, a hot tempered Oni wash-out.

"Come on Tom-boy, that brick-wall you call a chest slowing you down or something?" said Myu scathingly making Tatsuki go beat red and charge her opponent channeling large amounts of energy into her training Ongekibo forcing Hibiki to intervene before the girl ended up either knocking Myu through a wall or blowing up her Training Ongekibo … again.

"Okay that's enough. Go cool down Tatsuki-chan," said the Oni warrior as he blocked Tatsuki's attack with his Rekka.

"Yes Shishou (3)," said the Oni-in-training breathlessly as she backed off yet still give Myu a cold look.

"I have to go help Tela anyway, see you tomorrow… Brick-chest," said Myu finally as she slipped out of the dojo just Tatsuki made to charge at her angrily.

"Calm down Tatsuki, it's over for today now go cool off," said Hibiki as he held his student back.

"KUTABARE (4) MYU-AMA (5)!" yelled Tatsuki angrily as she struggled against Hibiki's grip.

"No choice then, _Laughing Pressure Point!_" said Hibiki as he jammed his thumb into Tatsuki's neck. The girl froze for a brief moment before she broke out into peels of laughter and collapsed into a heap on the floor.

"HA-HA-HA… SHISHOU NO BAKA HA-HA-HA!" she said as she rolled on the floor as she laughed loudly.

"If you kept calm Tatsuki-chan I wouldn't have done it," he said chidingly before turning to Ichigo. "Give me a hand and then we can get started."

The Substitute Soul Reaper nodded in understanding and helped his teacher move Tatsuki off the training mats. "That pressure point thing didn't hurt her or anything did it?" asked Ichigo as they set her down as she continued to chuckle heartily.

"Don't worry. She'll come out of it in a little bit. It's designed to incapacitate and placate a victim," said Hibiki reassuringly as they returned to the mats as the senior Oni pulled out his Onsa and flipped it open and nodded for Ichigo to do the same. The pair then tapped their respective Onsa on their watches and placed them to their foreheads making their Oni crests appear before they were both engulfed in Oni Fire.

"HAH!" cried Ichigo as his dispersed his white flames revealing an incomplete Oni transformation. His body was a dark silver color with gold trim and seemed to hang loosely on his form and was far more bulky then Hibiki's transformation. The big thing about his transformation though was that his Zanpakuto was strapped to his back.

"Okay, lets begin with sword training before moving on to Rekka practice," said Hibiki as he brought his Onsa forward. "Houshutsu! (6)" with that his Onsa was enveloped in purple flames and extended into a full katana style sword called Onsaken. Most Oni who used the Onsa to transform usually didn't have this feature and considered it outdated. Hibiki though saw using this function as a way to honor the past, that and it cut up Hollows better then any Zanpakuto he'd ever seen. "Now, DEFEND YOURSELF!"

He then charged Ichigo just as he pulled his Zanpakuto to block his Shishou's overhead strike. He then parried and made to slice him across the chest only for Hibiki to bend back to let it pass over him before rushing him and forcing him into a wall. "Good adapting Ichigo but you need to improvise more" said Hibiki as he took a shot at Ichigo with his fist only to be stopped by a solid blow of Ichigo's own to his stomach that sent him staggering back.

"Kinda like that Shishou?" asked Ichigo as he fought to catch his breath and smiled cheekily.

"Don't be a smart-ass," coughed Hibiki as he released his face transformation to reclaim his breath. "Just for that we're moving on to Ongekibo practice."

"Come on Hibiki, can't we continue working on the Ongekishingen?" pleaded Ichigo.

"We did that yesterday, besides a good Oni has at least a basic understanding of all forms of Ongekido, and with summer upon us you will need to know how to use the Ongekibo techniques more than ever," said Hibiki seriously as he pulled out a pair of training Ongekibo and handed them to Ichigo.

"What is so important about the summer?" as Ichigo as he reluctantly took up the offered weapons and faced a training drum to begin practicing the basic moves.

"The Summer Season Makamou are a lot smaller then their cooler weather cousins. But what they lack in size they make up with sheer numbers. A single one can duplicate itself exponentially if left to mature. Pull your arm back more on that strike," Hibiki explained as he adjusted Ichigo's form. "The duplicates are however very susceptible to the high concentrations of pure sound Ongekibo users employ in their attacks and their Progenitor is only susceptible to Taiko based finishers unless they are severely weakened first. Follow through on your strikes, that extra oomph behind your hits can be the difference between a quick finisher and getting blindsided by a claw or a tentacle."

Ichigo nodded as he made the adjustment and continued to pound the board, by now Tatsuki had regained her senses and had calmed down somewhat from Myu's barbs and began practicing her own katas. Hibiki was about to suggest an adjustment to Tatsuki when Tela came in looking concerned as she was reading a report printout. "Hibiki, can you look at this?" she asked handing the Oni the printout.

Hibiki gave it a cursory glance before doing a double take. "Tela you sure the sensors are aligned properly?" he asked as he reread the printout.

"They were within parameters so I ran the scan again, when it came back the same I had Myu realign them. This is what came out," she said sounding confused.

"Right, check the data logs. See if any of the other districts have come across these reading" said Hibiki handing back the printout.

"Hai" said Tela and moved to leave the Training Hall when her phone went off. "Moshi moshi? Adachi-dono!... Yes sir… Yes sir… He's right here," she said before handing the phone to Hibiki, looking nervous.

Sighing Hibiki takes the phone, "Yes Oyadama… Hai… Hai… Hai. I will get right on it, see you tomorrow," he said and hung up before turning to Ichigo and Tatsuki. "That will be enough for today you two, something has come up," he said resignedly as he left the Training Hall with Tela motioning for the two to follow.

0o0o0o0o

_That Night_

Screamer snickered evilly as he watched one of the humans that had come into possession of the little gaki and blocked the girder he had dropped_. "Looks like another morsel has taken the bait"_ he said as his forked tongue licked his lips and stepped back from the ledge. Best to let the two stew a bit, it made things all the sweeter when he finally ate. He was so enthralled that he didn't notice the shadow behind him until it fired. _"ARRGH! BASTARD!"_

"**I have you at last you monster,"** said a female voice as an Oni stepped into view. She was a dark blue almost black color with blue gauntlets and a small vest that seemed to be made of brass tubing, the kind used to make trumpets. Her face was dull silver with blue kabuki style markings which tapered off to become brass horns near the top of her head with a third horn rising out of her Oni Crest. Her belt was shaped like a propeller with a small TAKESHI symbol in the center. In her hand she wielded a brass gun that looked like a trumpet without a horn.

"_Well well… here we are again. I thought I got rid of you that night in Higashikurume. Still upset that I killed your precious Aunt and that lil' gaki of hers,"_ he said with a dark laugh.

"**SHUT UP!**" yelled the Oni as she fire at the Hollow forcing it back into the shadows only to vanish into a portal laughing. "**COME BACK HERE YOU BASTARD!**" she screamed in anguish and frustration. She then looked down as saw one of the civilians that Screamer had attacked was walking off with the Parakeet. With a throaty growl she followed him. She knew Screamer would appear again and as long as the boy had that bird with him, it would only be a matter of time.

0o0o0o0o

_Karakura High_

_Next Day_

"So there is a rogue Oni stalking the area?"

"Not exactly. According to this Official from TAKESHI that Hibiki talked to, she is out for revenge against the Hollow that took something from her. Hibiki wouldn't say what it was, only that if we run into her or the Hollow to alert him and to stay as far back as possible," clarified Ichigo as he sipped from his juice box.

Rukia just looked at her substitute curiously. "And Hibiki didn't think to tell you what was so important?" she asked as she turned her own juice box over in her hands, trying to figure out how it works. "How do you open this thing?"

"You use your straw and poke it through the little hole," said Ichigo with a sigh as he finished off his own juice box at tossed it out. "And Hibiki didn't know either; he was just told that the situation was classified as a personal matter for the Oni involved and to only keep track of the situation and intervene only if necessary."

"And just what are we suppose to do while he's keeping track of the situation?" asked Rukia as she turned her juice box over several times looking for it's straw.

"Tela picked up strange reading. Seems that a wayward soul somehow got itself trapped in the body of a Parakeet, he figured tracking it down and giving it a Konso would be a good training mission for Tatsuki. He wants us to keep an eye on her and if things go south to step in," answered Ichigo who then sighed heavily as he took the juice box from Rukia opened it for her as he couldn't bear to see her struggle with it any longer. He was sure he had already cracked two ribs to keep from laughing.

"Thank you," said the recovering Soul Reaper rather meekly and took a sip. "That's good," she said in shock, surprised that something kept in a glorified cardboard box would taste so good.

"You're welcome," said Ichigo gruffly when he felt a strange sensation attack his senses.

0o0o0o0o

Tatsuki was fuming silently at the first mission she had been given as an Oni apprentice. _"I can't believe Shishou no Baka! Making me Konso a stupid soul that probably just got lost or separated from its reaper; it's probably so weak that a Hollow wouldn't consider it a midnight snack,"_ she thought to herself only half listening to her friends gossiping and making sure Chizuru did not try to do anything perverted to Orihime. If she did, given her current mood, she would punt her straight to the moon.

At that point a strange sensation assaulted her senses. Since her encounter with Orihime's Hollowfied brother she had begun to see more of the world behind the world. Sometimes they were merely half there images or fuzzy outlines but they were always accompanied by this feeling that raised the hair on the back of her neck. A sensation she was feeling now as she saw Ichigo's friend Yasutora "Chad" Sado, a huge guy by any standard at nearly six and half feet tall and seemed to be made of steel reinforced muscle. He was also the quietest and gentlest guy ever. Ichigo had told that the first time they had met; he had taken a 2x4 to the back and shrugged it off like it was nothing. And at this moment he was carrying a cage with a white rather forlorn looking Parakeet, a Parakeet that currently held a very lost soul. At that moment the young apprentice Oni knew that this task was not going to be an ordinary first mission.

0o0o0o0o

**Translations:**

(1) boss or chief

(2) bad

(3) teacher or master

(4) Frak you, if you don't know what that means please consult the BSG 2004 section of Wikipedia.

(5) Bitch

0o0o0o0o

**A/n: **As always please R&R and all reviews, critiques, flames, threats against my life, threats to do me bodily harm, and crititisms are welcome. Any SPAM will be microwaved and enjoyed with a hot bagel and eggs.

Until next time true believers... DISMISSED!


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